November 18, 2013

Look at the rush-hour traffic - those crowds in Bangladesh don't even realize that this is NOT a normal way of life.
This can never happen to us ? That's exactly what they thought.
Just give it some decades - it is creeping slowly - but surely.
What will come first to Florida -
*1) The sea-level rise type of boat travel ? Water, water everywhere -
*2) Or the left-over dry-land mass transit type of travel ?
Just take your pick and look at this short documentary video - CLICK pictures below for it.
Over-population ? Naaaah, just a usual rush-hour traffic:ALL ABOARD !

November 15, 2013

Florida fresh-water situation was being addressed in the
recent article "Don’t let drought catch Florida by surprise” by Melissa Meeker, the former Executive Director of the SFWMD. A good constructive rumination. However, there is a shortcoming of it being somewhat narrow-minded in a sense that she is not considering / addressing / mentioning at all:(1)SUSTAINABILITY –
While technological advances are making the RO membrane processes somewhat
cheaper, desalination technologies are invariably extremely ENERGY intensive. Their use makes us MORE DEPENDENT on conventional
(oil) and controversial (nuclear ?) energy production.Reverse osmosis membranes are also
hydrocarbon based.Moreover, the newer
technologies (RO desalination, ASR, reuse) are still facing some challenges
(brine disposal, arsenic contamination and water recovery, public acceptance,
mismatch between supply and demand, etc.) when compared to using groundwater. Check the costs
below.Like a proponent of seawater
desal that she appears to be, Ms Meeker seems to somewhat suppresses the
outstanding controversies.While the word “diversification” is being used, let’s make that “sustainable
diversification” !

How to explain to the public that during a
wet year like 2013, instead of storing every drop of water, billions of gallons
of freshwater are not only dumped to
the estuaries but also causing immeasurable damages there.What a double-whammy waste of our precious freshwater resource !(3)CLIMATE CHANGE and
SEA-LEVELRISE – real longer-term danger of inundation does loom on the
horizon. While it is not even mentioned, it is already putting an extra
pressure on FL fresh water supplies through (underground) penetration of salt
water that poisons FL wells supplying the most dense populations of the East
and West coasts.

(4)EVERGLADES
RESTORATION – results in both natural aquifer recharging and water STORAGE.It
is in progress and should be first
on the list of remedial alternatives as it willa)
decrease the need for expensive water desalination,b)
recharge our aquifers during the wet years,
c) stop damaging freshwater dumping into the estuaries,d)Liven up the tourism and economy in general through available clean water and
clean oceans (a $4 return on each $1 so invested).

Obviously,
this alternative would not provide freshwater for free. The costs involved are significant – but it
has to be done if Florida is to remain habitable for the population that already
arrived and settled in that requires fresh water to survive as a civilization. The
alternative is to evacuate 8.5 million people of South Florida. JOB LOSSES due to water shortages are mentioned. What needs to be emphasized is the serious damage due to water shortages and pollution which are deadly destructive to the very heart of the Florida main economic engine – tourism.The key two sectors with the highest use of our freshwater are public and agriculture. Floridians used an estimated 6.8 billion gallons per day of freshwater in 2005 and the forecast water demand is around 8.7 billion gallons per day in 2025, mainly subdivided between agriculture (around 2.5 BGD) and public water supply (around 3BGD). As the industrial/commercial sectors are not high water users, water related job losses in that direction would not be as dramatic compared to people leaving the state, or not visiting it, because of drastic water shortages and water/ocean contamination.

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿
There is no“free fresh-water” – we end up paying for it one way or another.
As usual, not one, not two - but ALL factors contributing to the security of our fresh-water supply have to be considered, exploited and introduced to remedy the situation:
﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

While the engineering and design of well chosen options
should be bold and forward-looking, the economics of these alternatives has
to be seriously worked out to provide for a solid decision making basis.SUSTAINABILITY in particular and CLIMATE
CHANGE factors have to be also considered as part of the multifactorial,
multifaceted and balanced action toward the optimal solution that we
could afford as we must act.There is no
life and no economy without fresh water.

November 1, 2013

The Everglades ecosystem encompasses a system of diverse
wetland landscapes that are hydrologically and ecologically connected across
more than 200 miles from north to south and across 18,000 square miles of
southern Florida. Now, what next for the Everglades restoration ?The governments
remind us that a number of restoration projects have been accomplished
or are in different stages of progress (read the Fact
Sheets). While there is more improvement studied and
on drawing
boards, the projects are looking for the essential funding. Yes, it all
costs money and different stake-holders are outdoing each other – standing
“for” as well as “against”. As customary, lobbying
is in overdrive.Given both the cloudy current economic situation and with the
current Florida legislators not very environmentally inclined, perhaps it is
time to regroup and reflect – what should be the next priorities and steps
toward effective Everglades restoration that, as almost everybody in general agrees
upon, is needed ?Let’s take a summarizing and appropriately far-looking and
fundamental overview. An Everglades restoration reminder and a wish-list, if
you will. Proceeding from North to South, as the Everglades waters (used to)
flow, let’s summarize the main tasks as experts tend to see them:
﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

(2)Lake
Okeechobee – the liquid heart of Florida is seriously impaired
and cleaning up its watershed (above) will certainly help. However, there are
tons of “legacy
phosphorus” in its mud deposits that should be gradually “removed”. At
present, the question of devising the best way of doing so remains outstanding.Lake Okeechobee is the largest Florida freshwater reservoir. Its primary function could
be seen as such, despite the Lake’s ecological function that might have to be
only considered as secondary.Correspondingly, as the crucial flood prevention measure – ● the
overhaul and reinforcements of Hoover
Dike around the Lake is mandatory.Florida unusual and extreme seasonal rain variations call
for both reliable flood protection and extraordinary water storage capacity.● Eco-regulation of optimal Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers water releases.(3)EAA –
There are 3 major problems there caused by intensive agricultural activities: (a) soil exhaustion that is compensated for by current excessive
use of fertilizers;(b) runoff of major portion of fertilizers applied that
pollutes the downstream waters and overloads the existing STAs;(c) soil oxidation and subsidence to the underlying rock in
large areas (more than 3 feet subsidence).Correspondingly, multi-prong actions are required to remedy
the situation:● Introduce
and enforce strict measures in the form of effective farm BMPs with teeth.● Enforce
the Florida
Constitution amendment that allows for the “polluters pay”
mode of clean-up ● Consolidate
land holdings and allocation (“land swap”) for enlargement of existing STAs
(with reservoirs – FEBs) and/or new FEB-STA construction.● Restore
and replenish the subsided soil, (using LO muds ?) increasing its levels.

● Provide
for clean water sheet-flow
south towards the ENP and Florida Bay.● Extend the
Tamiami
Trail elevated bridging.● Control
water seepage in
the easterly areas of South Florida.● Take appropriate
steps to minimize the salt water underground advance/penetration.

About Me

What about ME ? I don't think that I am all that important. I am perhaps a pragmatic and technical person - and a dreamer at the same time - a Scientist and an Engineer: "Let's get things done" - to the best of our most conteporary knowledge and with all in the decision-making process being really honest !
I am excited about the challenges the Everglades present nowadays. There have been errors in the past in how the delicate Everglades system has been handled. Now let's see just how we can correct those errors.
I appreciate our ecology that supports our lifestyle - for a price. Human civilizations rose and fell because of water availability. The fascinating Everglades are the largest eco-experiment in the world - can we and are we willing to pay the price for setting it right ? And - are we completely (cross-your-heart) honest in our decision-making, all greed aside ?